Rhinoline the bottom half for a two tone effect?

[fj401968]

Several years ago I had an '81 GL wagon. It was white. The paint above the rubber moldings on the body looked pretty good. The paint below was pock-marked with rock chips in the paint that had surface rusted. After sanding out the rust, I painted the entire bottom half of the car with charcoal Hammerite paint. I added wagon wheels from a junkyard that I freshly painted white. With my Thule rack, the car looked quite sharp.

 

At present I have a fairly recently acquired '87 GL wagon. It looks pretty boring with the palid looking light tan paint. I'm considering painting the lower half with a darker colered Rhinoliner paint to give it that 'armored' look the new Outbacks have on the bottom half of the car. There's a little rust on this car but nothing overly cancerous. I'd like to keep future rust at bay so I'm considering undercoating the car and paying close attention to the wheel wells.

 

I'd also like to build bumpers for this car and add a roof rack with a cargo basket.

 

Any suggestions along these lines?

 

Tracy

[Huckersteve]

Don't do it Tracy, that was already my plan for my Red Loyale wagon, and I want to be the first!

 

Seriously though, your car will probably spontaneously energetically disassemble at speed if you try such a thing, better not chance it.

 

Several years ago I had an '81 GL wagon. It was white. The paint above the rubber moldings on the body looked pretty good. The paint below was pock-marked with rock chips in the paint that had surface rusted. After sanding out the rust, I painted the entire bottom half of the car with charcoal Hammerite paint. I added wagon wheels from a junkyard that I freshly painted white. With my Thule rack, the car looked quite sharp.

 

At present I have a fairly recently acquired '87 GL wagon. It looks pretty boring with the palid looking light tan paint. I'm considering painting the lower half with a darker colered Rhinoliner paint to give it that 'armored' look the new Outbacks have on the bottom half of the car. There's a little rust on this car but nothing overly cancerous. I'd like to keep future rust at bay so I'm considering undercoating the car and paying close attention to the wheel wells.

 

I'd also like to build bumpers for this car and add a roof rack with a cargo basket.

 

Any suggestions along these lines?

 

Tracy

[fj401968]

LOL... What cracks me up is the spectrum of how 'cool' and how 'bad' Subarus can look. My '81 looked so cool with the rear torsion bars adjusted up and the white spoked 'wagon' wheels as well as the overall look of the body, headlights, bumpers, roof rack, etc...

 

My '88 Subaru looked like a grandma wagon with the horrible star shaped plastic hub caps, plastic bumpers and flat looking ride (an untrained eye might mistake it for a wimpy Ford Escort wagon or a Chevy Chevette). Also, I was bummed at the lack of suspension adjustment like my '81 had. The 3 spd automatic transmission was a poor performer too. Even so, I put a lot of miles on that trusty car. My '90 Legacy wagon was a great car but it too looked pretty 'grandma'.

 

I'm determined to do something about the mild mannered appearance of my current Subaru ('87 GL wagon 5 speed D-R). So far, I've put alloy wheels off an '85. For some reason the suspension isn't as flat looking as my '88 was which is a bonus. I only paid $700 for the car and still need to do a clutch job. I don't want to dump a lot of $ into this daily driver so I'll have to keep myself in check.

 

I'll post a pic or two when I get done.

 

Tracy

 

Don't do it Tracy, that was already my plan for my Red Loyale wagon, and I want to be the first!

 

Seriously though, your car will probably spontaneously energetically disassemble at speed if you try such a thing, better not chance it.

[Snowman]

I painted my rocker panels with some rhino knockoff stuff, and I think it looks really cool.

[zyewdall]

I'm considering painting the lower half with a darker colered Rhinoliner paint to give it that 'armored' look the new Outbacks have on the bottom half of the car.

 

Tracy

 

This is what I did to all of the GL wagons I've owned. The three light blue ones got a dark blue hammerite up to the rubber molding, and for the flared part around the fender wells. The brown touring wagon I've got now got two tone dark green below, with a green strip along the windows, and a white roof. Looks pretty sharp I think and I've gotten complements from people at stop lights a few times. I'll post a picture if I can figure out how.

 

Zeke

[ShawnW]

So did any of you remove the door moldings when you did it? Im thinking of welding the holes shut but I dont know if it would weld easy.

 

Im thinking of trying "DURABAK" which is at this addy:

www.durabakbedliner.com

 

Dark blue on a silver car might look good.

[suberdave]

i have used DURABAK, awesome product. you can roll it on or use an undercoating gun and spray it on. next summer i will be doing the whole outside of my lifted wagon.

 

and if you have holes, dont worrie about them. just put some tape or something on the back side and spray over it. as long as they are not to large.

[fredrogers]

I think that would look super sweet!

 

-=fred=-

[zyewdall]

Pics of a few I've done

 

'87 GL

 

'89 touring wagon, a little dirty from the snow

 

'84 and '85 GL wagons. The PO had hit a deer with the '84 hence the mushed up hood, and blue swirlies painted on the front.

 

The little lights on the corners of the hoods of the three EA82's are my additions too -- hooked to the turn signal. I can see it and not drive with my turn signal on, and it doesn't get encrusted with mud and snow as much.